Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-07-01

had destroyed the original draft He was
at his wits ends when his eye fell upon a
small case Of manuscripts that for lack of
return postage or failure TO send addresses,
had been filed until called for it was bare
w possible that the missing story had stray
ed into this repository of unsuccessful lit
erature. Just before leaving the office that
afternoon, he sent for Miss Ferguson.
II am in a dreadful dilemma, Miss Fergu-
son, " he said, smiingly. 81 have lost a
manuscript, or at least mislaid it. 1t was
a story entitled John Dolline's Quest, and
was written, if my recollection serves me,
on unruled letter paper. The story was so
remarkable that l should exceedingly re-
gret to lose it, to say nothing of my EN-
barrassment in conveying that fact to the
writer. 1t is barely possible that the man
uscript has been put into this case and | am
going to ask you to make the search"
At the mention of the name Of the miss
ing manuscript Miss Ferguson had flushed
slightly, and when Mr.. Parker had ended
she said hesitatingly; "Did you say it was
a story q
eyes, or, perhaps, more accurately,
character study Of uncommon power. 1t
gave an account of man who, in a mo-
ment of great temptation, committed a sin
and lost all sense of his personal identity,
and whose whole subsequent life was
search for himself. 1t was very striking
piece of work.
Miss Ferguson had already turned to the
case, and Mr. Parker did not see the deep
ened color on her face He had no sooner
gone than she abruptly closed the little
| glass doors and returned to her desk. The
next morning Mr.. Parker was delighted to
find "John Dolline's Quest" lying on his
desk he was so thoroughly pleased that
he failed to note how tired Miss Ferguson
| looked when he went into her room to
thank her, or the more singular fact that
the manuscript lacked both date and num-
| ber
A month later "John Dolline's Quest
was in the hands Of 10000 readers in all
parts of the world and curiously enough,
they agreed with the editor in their iudg-
ment Of its literary quality. Il was GER
tainly a sketch of very unusual kind the
motive was subtle enough to arouse the Il
terest of the most intellectual, and :. was
wrought out with the most dehcote literary
skill and with boldness and vigor of con
struction which gave it instant popularity.
| Everybody who read it talked about it ;
the lesser newspapers copied it two or
three leading dailies and the foremost liter
ary journal published editorials on the NOR
al aspects of the problem presented by the
unknown writer for the story had been
published anonymously. Mr.. Parker was
overwhelmed with inquiries and letters ;
there were people in all parts of the coun-
try who had been wonderfully touched by
John Dolline's Quest and could not con
tent themselves with anything short of a
long letter to the editor The mails were
visibly increased in bulk by the correspond
ence on this particular subject, and Mr..
Parker's delight at having brought out a
new writer was a little cooled by the addi-
tional labor which his discovery of original
talent was costing him. Curiously enough,
he did not know who the writer was, for
no address was found on the manuscript,
and the single letter of inquiry had gone
into the waste basket. He gave himself
very little concern about the matter, how
ever, for it was incredible that the writer
of so successful u story would not speedily
put herself in communication with him, af-
ter a silence on his part which would seem
inexplicable to her.
Several weeks passed away without word
or sign from the author of John Dolline's
Quest" and Mr.. Parker was beginning to
be anxious he wanted more work from
the same hand, and he began to fear that
his prize had been beguiled into the office
of some competitor. He was puzzled, too,
by the apparent indifference of the writer
, Of a story which had sold an extra edition
, of the magazine, and was in everybody's
mouth did she care nothing for such a
+, success One evening, as he was sitting
at his desk in his room asking himself these
questions for the hundredth time, he pulled
z out package of papers from pigeon hole
and, 10 there dropped out the origina
manuscript of "John Dolline' Quest. There
e. was no doubt about it he instantly recog
! I IL. L., -, ,,-hs s,l, hog
A been written, and on the back were the
e date of receipt number and memorandum
t of acceptance. Moreover, the sight of the
article recalled distinctly the fact that he
A had brought the story home for more care
a full reading, and had placed it in his desk
=, the circumstances had entirely ESCAPED
e him, but now they all came back in flash
p John Parker was thunderstruck if he haC
been perplexed before, he was hopelessl!
r confused now The original manuscript
t had never been out of his possession, ant
T. yet Miss Ferguson had supplied a copy owe
t night He looked up the issue of the mag
( azine, and compared the printed story witt
y the manuscript in his hand they wer
d identical save in a few phrases and turns o
P expression. AS he recalled Miss Fergu
J. sons copy, he remembered that the hand
+ writing was very different from that be
|
/ quiry he was sure that its penmanship wa
the same as that of the original manuscript
y He lighted a fresh cigar, and began t
:, walk up and down his room, seeking vain
IS " for some solution of the problem. II
: tried one theory after another, but none c
|. them fitted the facts, and finally he CAV
1t up in despair there was no rational eXplf
" nation unless Miss Ferguson had stolen tn
story from the writer, which was incred
|, BILE or unless she had written it herself
=" which, in view of all the circumstance
:, seemed equally incredible. Mr. Parke
walked and walked, and the longer h
y walked and thought the more uncomfort'
y BILE he felt. His feeling if he had analyi
i ed it as closely as the novelists who col
sr tributed stories to the magazine were
r. the habit of analyzing such emotions, We
warmer and more intense than the simp
ot editorial problem would have justified; tt
lie fact that Miss Ferguson was involved seen
I'd ed to invest the circumstances with a pc
p sonal interest of kind which he had me-
o. er felt before.
The next morning Mr.. Parker had reac
$ ed no conclusion, but he had decided whi
III to do. He sent for Miss Ferguson, an
when she presented herself, handed h
the manuscript without a word of cor
n, ment. If he had felt any misgiving as
"a the result it was dissipated by the flu
Id which suffused the girls face when she u
derstood that he had discovered her co
&c nection with the story.
'h 81 owe you an explanation, which / oug
ss to have made earlier" she said 81 wro
lg this story six months ago, but had too lit
confidence in it to send it to any magazin
a laid it on a book-rack in my room, al
p thought no more of it until the afterno'
NJ, ] oh no lost 81
was so struck by the title that l asked f
Die its character, and from your description
ng knew the story must have been my own.
IT, hurried to my boarding house and foul
IL the manuscript missing. 1t had probah
re been taken by woman who had left I
ne house suddenly not very long before, a
'ld whom had instinctively distrusted, Yo
en- strong commendation stimulated me TO
ng produce it. l sat up the whole night, a
ed in the morning laid the story on your de
ed without explanation, These are the fac
'Ht which l should have put into your poss'
Wy sion before if l had been able to overcoI
siiy my timidity. 1t is the first piece of litel
I'm ry work l ever attempted"
m Whatever John Parker's feelings we
'ht while Miss Ferguson was making this e
1lt planation, he carefully concealed the
me When she had finished, he extended
ri, hand cordially, and said
hu 81 congratulate you on having mad
sp- very great success. Your future is lik'
his to be an enviable one. Have you writ
anything since John Dolline's Quest "
ne, Her reply was TO leave the room and
IN turn with another sketch. The same aft
led noon, as he handed her a generous che
CT, for both contributions, he told her that
Gt did not expect her to remain longer in
me present position, adding, with considera
ION emphasis
re- II have another place in view for you